The Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers Breast Oncology Program provides state-of-the-art care for breast cancer patients. Our doctors will work with you to create a treatment plan that takes your individual needs into account. We offer many resources, from nutritional help to complementary therapies, to support you throughout treatment and beyond.
About the Center
At the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers Breast Oncology Program, we understand that women with breast cancer are people first and patients second. We know you face challenges beyond your immediate medical care. That knowledge guides how our specialists work with you to create a care plan that takes your individual needs into account.
The clinicians in our center include some of the world's leading experts in breast cancer. We offer the most advanced treatments, including promising breast cancer clinical trials. These trials are part of our ongoing commitment to clinical research.
In addition to offering the latest in clinical care, we provide a wide range of resources to support you physically and emotionally throughout your treatment.
Your treatment team focuses exclusively on breast cancer, and has experience with all types of the disease, including ductal carcinoma in situ, infiltrating (invasive) ductal carcinoma, lobular carcinoma in situ, infiltrating (invasive) lobular carcinoma, inflammatory breast cancer, Paget's disease, and phyllodes tumors.
We have experts in cancer genetics, risk factors for breast cancer, and cancer prevention. Our breast imaging (mammography), breast pathology, and anesthesiology services are world-renowned.
The Breast Oncology Program is part of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers. The Susan Smith Center conducts research into the causes of women's cancers and the development and testing of new therapies. Established as an integrated care model, it exists to provide the best possible care and support to women with cancer and their families.
Types and presentations of breast cancer we treat include:
Young women (in their early 40s and younger) with breast cancer often face different challenges and need different resources. Combining treatment, research, and specialized support services, our Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer, led by Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, is designed to meet the needs of our younger patients.
A team of experts, led by Beth Overmoyer, MD, specializes in treating inflammatory breast cancer, a rare but aggressive form of breast cancer.
Our Approach to Breast Cancer Treatment
Whatever your breast cancer diagnosis, we are committed to providing personalized, compassionate, comprehensive care.
Your treatment team is made up of some of the world's most experienced and respected cancer specialists, who focus their care and research specifically on breast cancer.
As a breast cancer patient at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, you'll have access to all our clinical and support specialists, including:
- surgical oncologists specializing in breast cancer
- medical oncologists
- radiation oncologists
- imaging specialists/radiologists
- reproductive (fertility) medicine specialists
- reconstructive surgeons
- psychiatrists
- psychologists
- social workers
- pharmacists
- genetic counselors
- physical therapists
- nutritionists
- chaplains
Treating all aspects of breast cancer
Breast cancer, like all cancers, is characterized by type and stage. Your individual treatment plan will be guided by your specific diagnosis.
Our diagnostic services include:
- diagnosis of breast cancer with state-of-the-art mammography, MRI scanning, and minimally invasive biopsy technology through our Imaging department
- evaluation and treatment of breast conditions associated with previous cancer treatments or other cancer
We believe that there is more to caring for you than just treating your diagnosis. With that in mind, we offer a comprehensive range of services. These include:
Even after your active treatment is over, there is still a need for ongoing care. The Breast Oncology Program offers a clinical program designed specifically to address the complex medical needs of breast cancer survivors. In addition, we offer long-term follow-up care and collaboration as needed with your primary care physician, local oncologist, and local hospital.
In addition to treating patients with a breast cancer diagnosis, we also see patients with a variety of conditions ranging from worrisome breast lumps, abnormal mammograms, and breast pain at our Comprehensive Breast Health Center, located at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Treatment Team
Your entire care team has extensive experience in breast cancer treatment. Our specialists work closely together and collaborate regularly to ensure that your care plan offers the best possible outcomes and that all your needs are met.
Administrative Leadership
Dirk Iglehart, MD, Director of the Women's Cancers Program
Eric Winer, MD, Director of the Breast Oncology Program
Judy Garber, MD, MPH, Director, Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic
Mehra Golshan, MD, Director of Breast Surgical Services
Nancy Lin, MD, Clinical Director, Breast Oncology Program
Jay Harris, MD, Chair of Radiation Oncology
Medical Oncology
Craig Bunnell, MD, MPH
Harold Burstein, MD, PhD
Wendy Chen, MD, MPH
Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH
Judy Garber, MD, MPH
Michael Hassett, MD
Ian Krop, MD, PhD
Jennifer Ligibel, MD
Nancy Lin, MD
Erica Mayer, MD
Susan Moody, MD, PhD
Daniel Morganstern, MD
Beth Overmoyer, MD
Leroy Parker, MD
Ann Partridge, MD
Kathryn Ruddy, MD, MPH
Rochelle Scheib, MD
Lawrence Shulman, MD
Daniel Silver, MD
Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH
Eric Winer, MD
Radiation Oncology
Jennifer Bellon, MD
Jay Harris, MD
Susan M. Pierce, MD
Rinaa S. Punglia, MD, MPH
Julia Wong, MD
Psychiatry
Susan Block, MD
Surgical Oncology
Katherina Zabicki Calvillo, MD, FACS
Katharine Carter, MD
Roger Christian, MD
Laura Dominici, MD
Margaret Duggan, MD
Mehra Golshan, MD
Dirk Iglehart, MD
Faina Nakhlis, MD
Esther Rhei, MD
Susan Troyan, MD
Nurse Practitioners
Christine Agius, NP
Anne Kelly, RN, NP
Georgia Litsas, NP
Jennifer McKenna, NP
Holly O'Kane, NP
Karen Pollard, NP
Elahe Salehi, NP
Karen Schulte, NP
Physician Assistant
Danielle Bowers
Nurses
Erin Hagemeister, RN
Margaret Haldoupis, RN
Judith Hirshfield-Bartek, RN
Elizabeth Kasparian, RN
Mary O'Driscoll, RN
Kathleen Roche, RN
Myra St. Amand, RN
Social Work
Rachel Allende, LICSW (Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking patients)
Elizabeth Farrell, LCSW
Patricia Kartiganer, LICSW
Shivani Kaushik, MSW (Inpatient)
Julie Salinger, LCSW
Clinical Research
We believe outstanding clinical care is directly linked to an active program of clinical research. Our physician-researchers take the questions that arise in their clinical practice, answer them through clinical trials and take this new knowledge back to the clinic where it can benefit patients.
As a patient, you'll have access to new and innovative treatments through clinical trials for breast cancer.
Our research studies are broad in scope: new therapies, novel combinations of existing treatments, lifestyle interventions, psychosocial studies, investigations of prevention and early-detection strategies, and laboratory analyses of tumor samples to better understand the relationship between tumor types and patient outcomes.
We are also actively studying the differences that define the many subtypes of breast cancer. These include genetic differences in tumors, as well as differences across patients. Investigators are leading and participating in an array of clinical trials of drugs for HER2-positive breast tumors that have become resistant to drugs such as trastuzumab (Herceptin). Other research is examining new treatments for triple-negative breast cancers.
Clinical trials for breast cancer have already resulted in new therapies. For example, our investigators were the first to evaluate the use of a two-drug combination — vinorelbine and trastuzumab (Herceptin) — which has benefited many women with breast cancer. For many years, we have led the way investigating many new therapies, such as T-DM1 and a new class of drugs, the PI3 kinase inhibitors.
The excellence of our research program is widely recognized and supported by many private and public funding sources. In 2000, and again in 2005, the center and its Harvard-affiliated institutions received a prestigious five-year Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute to pursue groundbreaking work in the prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer.
Contact Us
New patients
If you have never been seen before at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center, please call 877-442-3324 or use this online form to make an appointment.
Referring physicians: 617-632-2175
For all other inquiries, please call 617-632-3800.
Fax: 617-632-3715
Mailing address
Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers
Breast Oncology Program
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
450 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Breast cancer care at satellite centers
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center in clinical affiliation with South Shore Hospital
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center at Milford Regional Medical Center
Dana-Farber/New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology (second opinions only)